A plume of flame bursts from an outstretched hand and summons a burning serpent in an unoccupied space within range. The Serpent is a large elemental, with an AC of 10 + the level of the spell, and 40 hit points. The serpent is immune to fire damage, and has a speed of 10 ✕ your spellcasting ability modifier (minimum of 10 feet).

As an action, including the one taken to cast this spell, you can command the serpent to use its movement speed and or attempt to constrict one creature of Large or smaller size. The serpent moves into a space adjacent to the target creature, and forces it to make either a Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check against your spell save DC. On a failure, the target creature becomes Restrained until the beginning of your next turn, and takes 4d10 fire damage or half as much on a success. The serpent can only restrain one creature at a time, and if a creature succeeds their grapple check they are no longer restrained. Killing the serpent ends the spell and its effects.

When a creature takes fire damage from this spell, it must make a Wisdom saving throw at the beginning of its next turn, becoming Charmed on a failure. If a creature is resistant or immune to fire damage, it cannot be charmed by this spell.

At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a slot of 5th-level or higher, the serpent spawns with 10 more hit points for each slot level above 4th, and the damage increases by 1d10 for each slot level above 4th. When you cast this spell at 7th-level or higher, creatures with resistance to fire damage can be charmed by it.